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| Sunny Neji |
Sunny Neji is one artiste who has carved a niche for himself music wise. Though he grew up singing and dancing native songs, he was exposed to contemporary music when he came to Lagos to live with his elder brother. In this interview, the Oruka and Awarawa Crooner relives experiences that shape and inspire him to sing, the key things he looks out for when writing his songs, his album; Timeless, his roles in the late Musa Yar-Adua Amnesty programme for Niger Delta militants and bares his mind on the hydra-headed monster called piracy which has eaten deep into the fabrics of music among other burning issues.
Excerpts.
You will agree with me that you are not that visible in the music arena as you used to be; what is the reason for this?
I am as visible as ever, but maybe because I haven’t come out with an album as you expected but I must tell you I perform shows; especially government shows and I do that so often. In life, that is why we are human beings, we are not a piece of furniture; we progress and go through ups and downs. You have to experience everything, just live your life, that’s my general philosophy.
You seem to be very close to government, are you thinking of going into politics someday?
You have to understand that artistes are not from Mars or Jupiter, They belong to a geographical location and whatever is happening in that location affects them too.
When it is time for politics, you should expect them to take a stand. You have to stand for something. It doesn’t mean that because you are an artiste, you are not in Nigeria anymore and you want to remain neutral. You should be able to declare your stand, let us know where you stand and put your money where your mouth is.
I do not know about anybody else but I, Sunny Neji supported two people openly, Governor Fashola of Lagos and President Jonathan because I believe in them. For instance, the former is a source of inspiration to me. Everyday I leave my house, I look at Lagos and I am amazed by the transformation. We all cannot pretend that he hasn’t done well, so I declare my support for him and I believe in him because he inspires a whole lot of people, not just in Lagos State but in Nigeria. This is the kind of leadership that we need, not just in Lagos State but in Nigeria. If we can have that kind of leadership, the country will change just like that.
I also supported Goodluck Jonathan because I see the hand of God upon this man. He has not come out openly to canvass for votes. He rose from Deputy Governor to Governor, Vice President and then, President.
He has changed the power sector in Nigeria so if this man can do this, why don’t I support him considering all the other players there. I must state that I chose to support him not because of money but because I believe in the man. It is very easy for people to assume all sorts of things because when musicians sing, they get paid.
I was a major factor during late Yar’Adua amnesty programme; I was one of the intermediaries between the government and the youths because of my influence in the Niger Delta. I was part of the struggle.
What pushed you into music?
(Chuckles)I wasn’t pushed into music, I believe that everyone has been created to do something in particular just like the Bible said that we have all been given talents; so it’s how much you are drawn to do something that makes you go there and how much passion. I was born into music and I am also passionate about it and that’s why I am still in music. It’s not like I just sat down and thought this was the best vocation for me, it’s something that comes naturally to me. Writing songs comes naturally to me, so I am just doing what I like best.
In other words, it wasn’t like something you opted for as a second fiddle?
No.
Can you recall when you wrote your first song?
I can’t recall exactly but I am sure that it was sometime in the 80s but I can’t remember the title of the song.
Professionally, how long have you been in music?
I have been doing this professionally since 1991, so we are talking about 22 years.
Obviously, there must have been ups and downs here and there?
We are now in an era where the industry has no structures and a lot has gone wrong, so I can’t say I am fulfilled. I would have loved a situation where things would be better than they were. Music business itself is not very encouraging in Nigeria today for several reasons; music is not properly priced, then there is the challenge of piracy and we are not doing anything about it and it is discouraging investors and investment. Then, the business is not bankable. You can’t walk into a bank now for loan. Everybody else goes to the bank to obtain money except artistes.
Why is it like that, maybe something is not right?
It still boils down to the structures, so it is very difficult for you to say give me X amount of money and I’ll make X amount of returns. You cannot do that, the structure is not there and that is a sad thing about the industry but aside that, we have creative people in the industry. Professionalism is the only thing that is lacking now.
Everybody wants to become a star overnight, nobody is interested in the business side, a whole lot of things are just not right.
We have a couple of people doing well but it cannot be said that music industry is generally doing well.
Can you proffer some solutions to these problems?
Most importantly, government should help us create a conducive environment to protect our intellectual property and that should be the starting point. Nobody wants to invest in a place where their investments will not be protected. I am not saying they can give us 100% protection but they should be able to give us some level of protection that will give us confidence so that the pirates can go into hiding not like now that they feel that they are above the law and nothing can be done to them. We need to send them into hiding.
Is it enough to send them into hiding or get rid of them completely?
(Cuts in)I am not going to deceive myself to think that we can get rid of them because we can’t but we can send them into hiding and make it more difficult for them to operate and reduce their activities to the barest minimum. If we can do that, it will be good. That will now give potential investors enough confidence to come and invest. By so doing, we will attract the sort of investments that will last long. We don’t have people coming into Nigeria like before due to piracy. Now, as I’m talking to you, every Nigerian artiste is now a potential record owner. The structures that need to groom real talents are not there.
How many albums do you have to your credit now?
There was an album before Mr. Fantastic which didn’t do very well; so it’s not known and that was in 1993. Then, we had ‘Roforofo’ before ‘Oruka’.
One of your songs I really enjoyed is ‘Awarawa’. Though you are not Yoruba, you infuse the language in your songs in a nice way. Are there limitations when you do that?
I’m an artiste and I believe in creativity. More so, I have a lot of Yoruba people around me. I was born in Lagos and also grew up there. Though I’m not very fluent in Yoruba, I’ve got many friends who do. I understand a bit and when I’m creating a song, I know exactly what I want. My best friend, Shola Majeed is a Yoruba man and an artiste. He helps and most of the time when we work, we rub minds and put things together.
What is the concept of the single, Awarawa?
‘Awarawa’ is a song about us, re-discovering ourselves as a people, brothers and sisters because it’s as if we are losing it or maybe we have even lost it. We seem to have lost our bond and have forgotten that we are all kith and kin and it doesn’t matter where we come from; Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo. Itsekiri and other geo-political zones. We are all the same. We need to begin to see ourselves as brothers and sisters
We shouldn’t see ourselves as strangers and that brought about the song as we are really Awarawa.
What are those things you look out for when writing your songs?
I am inspired by my personal experiences; what I am going through at that particular point in time. What is happening around me in the country and the world at large. The environment is also a contributory factor.
Do you write all your songs?
So far to a large extent, yes.
Did you start singing from the church, everybody seems to?
No, I grew up singing and dancing traditional music. I mean native and down-to-earth music.
That means you can dance very well?
I can dance traditional music but not hip-hop or stuff like that, so I grew up singing and dancing because my grand father used to be a chief of several quarters, so our compound was always a beehive of cultural activities. However, I was exposed to contemporary music when I came back to Lagos to live with my elder brother after my father’s death. He was a music lover and I remember we had every kind of music in the house then; from Jazz to pop, rock, apala, fuji, juju high life, country music so I became exposed to contemporary music through him.
I think my stay with him helped to sharpen and give me inspiration and direction into music.
What is your philosophy of life and do you have role models who you look up to?
I have a different outlook towards life because I see everybody going down different roads and routes and we can only get the best out of life if we go down the road, learn our lessons from our experiences and be the best. I do not really pick things from people because we do not have similar experiences. Maybe people do but I do not. I believe in self-discovery. You need to discover yourself and find out who you are, understand your make-up and with your make-up, be the best you can be.
Are there other things that catch your fancy apart from music?
(Pauses) I don’t think I have enough time to get distracted or attracted to things. In developed countries like Europe and America, things are so well structured but the reverse is the case here. Everything is so disorganised that you spend three quarters of the day trying to understand the dis-organisation(chuckles), so where is the time to relax and do other things. It’s a challenge in Nigeria but we are trying to be the best that we can be.
In this business, are there clashes with your home front?
It is not easy but when you have a supportive wife, then it becomes easy. God has blessed me because I have a God-fearing wife and of course, my kids, they are all wonderful.
Are they musically inclined like their father?
Right now, I cannot tell.
You hail from Cross Rivers State, is it going to be possible to wax an all native album just like when you sang ‘Idembono’ in your last album?
If I am inspired to do it, I would. I work basically on inspiration.
Recently, the President gave the entertainment industry $250 million. People are saying nothing seems to have been heard as far as the funds are concerned. Some say the money could fall into the wrong hands. What is your take on that?
The fact that the money is available does not mean that anybody can just lay his/her hands on it. Personally, I think government should help us first to create an enabling environment because if the issue of piracy is not curbed, then that money would be given for free so before disbursement, government should take care of certain issues.
Source: Globalexcellenceonline
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